Tucker Cipriano, friend to be arraigned in fatal baseball-bat beating of Cipriano's father

View full sizeAP PhotosTucker Cipriano, 19, (left) and Mitchell Jordan Young, 20, both entered not guilty pleas during video arraignments April 18 to charges including murder, armed robbery and assault with intent to murder.

PONTIAC, MI — The case against 19-year-old Tucker Cipriano, who is charged with the baseball-bat attack of his family in Farmington Hills with accused accomplice Mitchell Young, 20, arrives in Oakland County Circuit Court at 1:30 p.m. today.

Cipriano and Young are charged with orchestrating the brutal attack that killed Cipriano's 52-year-old father, Robert Cipriano, and the near-fatal assault of his 17-year-old brother Salvatore and mother, Rose, on April 19 using baseball bats.

The ruthless and the bizarre intrafamilial attack in what has ranked as one of the nation's safest cities, has drawn national intrigue. There's even a website, tuckercipriano.com, dedicated solely to the Cipriano-Mitchell case.

The need for money to feed drug addiction is a motive presented during a prior court hearing by Ian Zinderman, 20, Tucker Cipriano's friend since 5th grade, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Months after the attack, Tucker Cipriano's brother Salvatore continues to battle the near-fatal injuries he endured and remains hospitalized, though he is showing improvement and is slated to enter a rehabilitation center soon, Channel 4's website, clickondetroit.com reports.